Man City beat ten-man Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield to go three points clear

Manchester City beat ten-man Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, 11 October 2026, scoring three times in the 16 minutes after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off. Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored in the second half, ESPN and USA Today reported.

The result keeps City perfect in the Premier League: six wins from six and 18 points, three clear of Arsenal, who had drawn level with them by beating Leeds United on Saturday, according to ESPN’s league table. Liverpool, unbeaten in the league before kick-off, suffered their first defeat of the season and stay on nine points.

It was the first meeting of the two clubs under their new head coaches, Andoni Iraola at Liverpool and Enzo Maresca at City. The game kicked off at 4:30pm Nigerian time.

How did the red card change the game?

The first half ended 0-0. Liverpool were without the injured forwards Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, and handed 21-year-old Lewis Koumas his first Premier League start up front, NBC Sports reported.

The game opened up after the break. Gianluigi Donnarumma saved from Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister curled a shot just wide, and Milos Kerkez cleared off his own line after Antoine Semenyo’s cross, NBC Sports reported.

Gravenberch, booked in the 47th minute, was shown a second yellow card in the 62nd minute for a foul on Doku, ESPN’s match commentary shows. Referee Chris Kavanagh sent him off, leaving Liverpool with ten men for the last half-hour, Goal reported. NBC Sports’ live coverage questioned whether the foul deserved a second booking.

How did City score?

• 65 minutes, Haaland: Doku’s shot deflected into Haaland’s path, and the Norwegian got ahead of Virgil van Dijk to score with his left foot, according to NBC Sports and ESPN.
• 68 minutes, Doku: the Belgian, who came on for Iliman Ndiaye in the 56th minute, cut in from the left and curled the ball into the top corner from Elliot Anderson’s pass, ESPN reported. USA Today said Doku had been out with a calf injury in August.
• 78 minutes, Cherki: the Frenchman exchanged passes with substitute Josko Gvardiol, beat Jeremie Frimpong and finished past Alisson, according to ESPN and NBC Sports.

City had 65% of the possession, according to ESPN’s match statistics. The club confirmed the 3-0 full-time score on its official live match page.

What did the managers say before the game?

Iraola had warned that his side needed to be at their best. “I think we need to be very, very good if we want to beat City because they’ve been especially offensively scoring a lot of goals lately,” he said in an interview published on Liverpool’s website.

Maresca had backed his players to handle the atmosphere at Anfield. “Absolutely they [the players] can face the pressure. Absolutely. We have players that have experienced similar situations,” he told City’s website on Friday, 9 October.

Where does it leave the table?

As of Sunday evening, City lead on 18 points, ahead of Arsenal on 15 and Brighton and Hove Albion on 13, ESPN’s table shows. Liverpool are ninth on nine points after six games, level on points with Leeds United, Hull City and Ipswich Town.

What happens next

Both clubs are back in the Champions League on Wednesday, 14 October. Liverpool visit LASK Linz at 5:45pm WAT, and City host Paris Saint-Germain at 8pm WAT, according to ESPN’s fixture lists.

In the Premier League on Saturday, 17 October, Liverpool travel to Brentford and City host Ipswich Town, both at 3pm WAT. Watch for whether Iraola gets Isak and Gakpo back, and whether City can stretch their lead at the top.